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LETTER: Proud of students for making their voices heard

In the wake of February’s horrific school shooting in Florida, our country has witnessed incredibly energy from young people urging their elected officials to pass gun violence prevention legislation.

I am especially proud of the students right here in Minnesota’s 4th District who have traveled to Washington, D.C., staged peaceful walkouts from their schools, written postcards to their elected officials, and organized a rally on the steps of the state Capitol attended by 20,000 people. They are making their voices heard loud and clear.

I was particularly appreciative of the more than 100 eloquent, intelligent, and deeply personal messages that were hand-delivered to me by the students of Mounds Park Academy. These letters urged me to do whatever I can to protect our families and communities from gun violence.

For the students at Mounds Park and across our district, I am a strong supporter of legislation like the assault weapons ban, which prohibits the sale of the type of weapons that were responsible for the massacres in Parkland, Sandy Hook and Las Vegas.

To all of our community’s students who have courageously stood up and spoken out for action to prevent gun violence: thank you for your voices and your passion. I hear you and I’m going to keep working alongside you to protect our families and communities.